Negotiating Centrelink Managed Job Plans 001-09100010

A Job Plan is an Employment Pathway Plan or Individual Participation Plan for the purpose of social security law.

Job seekers with mutual obligation requirements must agree to a Job Plan to qualify for income support payments. A Job Plan records the requirements the job seeker will do to meet their mutual obligation requirements.

Job seekers in Workforce Australia Online who are subject to RapidConnect will need to complete a career profile before they are presented with a Job Plan.

Job seekers are either Centrelink or provider managed. Service Officers are unable to negotiate a Job Plan for provider managed job seekers. The organisation responsible for the ongoing management of the job seeker will negotiate their Job Plan.

All job seekers with mutual obligation requirements must negotiate and agree to a Job Plan within:

• 4 business days of their first regular payment, or
• within 14 days of a change of circumstance

To negotiate a Job Plan, job seekers with mutual obligation requirements must have an active Job Seeker Identification status with one of the following registration types:

• Fully Eligible Participant (FEP)
• Job Seeker Registration Only (JSRO)/No Remote Referral Required (NRRR) job seeker, or
• Remote Fully Eligible (RFE)

The Job Plan must be tailored to the job seeker's circumstances.

A compulsory Job Plan must be negotiated for job seekers with mutual obligation requirements except where the job seeker has a:

• current temporary exemption from their mutual obligation requirements
• pending Employment Services Assessment (ESAt) or Job Capacity Assessment (JCA) and their capacity to participate is undetermined

Centrelink managed job seekers are those who are able to fully meet their mutual obligation requirements by participating in a Centrelink approved requirement.

Other job seekers are Centrelink managed because of their assessed capacity to work or because they have been granted an exemption from meeting mutual obligation requirements.

Centrelink managed job seekers are:

• principal carers fully meeting requirements (through paid work, self-employment, study, or a combination)
• mature age job seekers 55+ (through paid work, self-employment, voluntary work, or a combination)
• job seekers assessed as having partial capacity to work (PCW) of less than 15hrs per week work capacity (Quarterly Participation Interviews)
• job seekers assessed as having partial capacity to work (PCW) 15-29 hours per week (through paid work or self-employment)
• job seekers assessed as having temporary reduced work capacity (TRWC) of less than 15hrs per week work capacity (Quarterly Participation Interviews)
• job seekers with an exemption from their mutual obligation requirements (noting they do not require a Job Plan)
• job seekers who are current on income support payment and participating in Small Business Coaching under Self-Employment Assistance
• principal carer parents participating in Defence Force Reserves
• Youth Activities to satisfy mutual obligation requirements
• most newly arrived refugees who are in the 13 week period post the end of their refugee exemption

Providers can approve some job seekers as fully meeting their mutual obligation requirements. These job seekers will become Centrelink managed and require a Centrelink Job Plan to be negotiated when notified by the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (DEWR) that the job seekers are:

• Principal carers under 55 years of age, undertaking approved standalone or combination approved activities for at least 30 hours per fortnight:
• approved voluntary work
• a combination of approved voluntary work and study
• a combination of approved voluntary work, study and paid work
• a combination of approved voluntary work and paid work
• a combination of study and paid work
• Those assessed with a partial capacity to work (15-29 hrs) undertaking a combination of study and paid work for at least 30 hours per fortnight
• Any job seeker undertaking a combination of paid work and study for at least 70 hours per fortnight
• Principal carers, mature age 55+ and those assessed with a partial capacity to work, undertaking paid work for at least 30 hours per fortnight
• Mature age 55+ undertaking approved voluntary work for at least 30 hours per fortnight
• Mature age 55+ undertaking a combination of approved voluntary work and paid work for at least 30 hours per fortnight

Note: some job seekers who are currently undertaking approved study as part of their mutual obligations may be entitled to Education Entry Payment (EdEP). A separate claim for EdEP is not needed. To assess and pay this payment, see Education Entry Payment.

Job seekers with mutual obligation requirements will appear as Centrelink managed if they:

• are not fully meeting requirements, and
• have not been referred to:
• Workforce Australia Online, or
• an Employment Services Provider

This includes job seekers with a pending Job Seeker snapshot awaiting an ESAt to determine their:

• capacity to participate
• most appropriate Employment Services referral option (if applicable)

These job seekers cannot have a Job Plan negotiated until:

• their ESAt/JCA is accepted, and
• they attend a Quarterly Participation Interview, or
• they are referred to an Employment Service and:
• agree to their Job Plan online, or
• their Employment Service Provider manages the negotiation of the job seekers Job Plan (provider managed)

The Key Information screen and Job Plan Status screen in Process Direct will show:

• the job seeker's participation category
• if there is a current Job Plan, and
• if the job seeker is Centrelink or provider managed

Service Officers must identify whether a provider managed job seeker should be Centrelink managed, for example, where they are fully meeting their requirements through an approved activity or program. After coding the Activity and Exemption Summary (AEX) screen, do not attempt to negotiate a Job Plan until the job seeker's record changes to Centrelink managed. DEWR will make the determination to either suspend or exit the job seeker from employment services.

The exception to this is job seekers participating in Post Placement Support with Disability Employment Services (DES). The DES provider will negotiate their Job Plan.

Note: the Action item Customer is Centrelink managed and has no current Job Plan. Negotiate Job Plan with customer, may appear for ESL job seekers who:

• are participating full time in AMEP, and
• are yet to be referred to an Employment Services Provider

These job seekers are not Centrelink managed and must be referred to a provider. Once referred, they will display as provider managed.

Job Plans may be negotiated by suitably skilled staff either in person or over the phone where all necessary documentation and/or information is available. Job seekers must formally agree with the Job Plan either by signing a printed copy, or by using their Centrelink online account (not including the Centrelink app) to provide agreement. Job Plans cannot be finalised by verbal agreement.

Some Centrelink managed job seekers who have registered for Centrelink Online Services and are fully meeting their mutual obligation requirements can have their Job Plan updated automatically when the requirement end date is reached by completing an online task. These job seekers then use the View and Agree Job Plan online service to agree to their Job Plan.

If the Job Plan is negotiated via phone, the job seeker should access their Centrelink online account and finalise the plan while they are still on the phone. It will be available immediately. If the job seeker does not have a Centrelink online account, the Job Plan can be mailed to them, or they can go to a service centre to sign it. Note: remote job seekers can post their signed Job Plans.

The job seeker does not need to agree to the Job Plan immediately but must agree to it within 28 days. The following timeframes apply:

• 2 days - reminder message for job seeker with an online account
• 14 days - reminder letter
• 28 days - payments suspended

Services Australia is responsible for ensuring that Centrelink managed job seekers have appropriate requirements in their Job Plan. The relevant approved activity type, start and end date will be displayed within the sentence text of any Centrelink Job Plan negotiated on or after 1 July 2024.

An appropriate Job Plan must be negotiated with a job seeker by the agency where:

• their Job Plan is no longer current (for example, a job seeker with voluntary work as their approved requirement commences part-time work)
• any requirement in the Centrelink negotiated Job Plan is more than 12 months old
• the job seeker is now Centrelink managed as they have commenced an activity which will fully meet their mutual obligation requirements
• the job seeker is returning to an income support payment, even if the requirements in their new Job Plan are the same as they had during a previous period of payment

Some job seekers will have their approved part-time work (PTW) requirement auto updated if they:

• are a principal carer, and
• are receiving JobSeeker Payment (JSP), Parenting Payment Single, or Youth Allowance (job seeker), and
• have declared in the last 2 consecutive fortnights that they have worked at least 30 hours each fortnight

A new Centrelink managed Job Plan must still be negotiated for these job seekers.

At new claim, where a job seeker's circumstances, for example, partial capacity to work (PCW) or the requirements they are already undertaking, mean they can be Centrelink managed, Service Officers should negotiate Job Plans as part of the new claim finalisation process.

If a job seeker is proposing to do an activity that will fully meet their requirements, or they cannot yet provide the required verification at new claim, their requirement must be approved as soon as possible after grant. In the meantime, the job seeker must be referred to an Employment Service and commence meeting the requirements of a provider negotiated Job Plan. The job seeker will be provider managed until Centrelink has the information and verification needed to approve an activity that is fully meeting their requirements.

If a Job Seeker Snapshot is run during the job seeker's online claim appointment resulting in a pending status, a Job Plan cannot be negotiated until their:

• ESAt is completed, and
• capacity to participate is known

Full-time students will not normally be required to negotiate a Job Plan.

The exception is Vulnerable Youth (Students) offered provider-led services (provider managed) assistance, who will negotiate a Job Plan with their Workforce Australia provider. Vulnerable Youth (Students) in a designated Community Development Program (CDP) region will negotiate a Job Plan with their CDP provider.